Mail Daze

A freelance editor, speculative fiction writer,
and plant- and animal-lover blogs
her mostly uneventful life.

Monday, June 2, 2008

I slept in Vegas. I worked at WisCon.

It is spring—I’m happy to at least have that question answered so I can stop asking it. Soon I can begin complaining about how hot it is.

I accompanied Doug to Vegas while he attended GAMA. Stayed at Caesars Palace: we got used to the over-the-top décor in no time (the various Romanesque statues were helpful landmarks) and stopped finding it weird, and the service was absolutely first-class. Could not ask for friendlier, more helpful cleaning people, bellhops, front desk staff, cocktail servers, wagering attendants . . . Really nice. Unlike at Bally’s last year, there were lots of good channels on the TV. There was, however, no door on our room’s bathroom, and it was clearly designed to be that way. It was no big thing since it was just Doug and me, but it was unusual. We were there for about three days from arrival to departure, and I’d say I slept for about two days of it. I arrived nearly walking into walls after working I don’t know how long. Sleeping on the plane -- in the freaking 17” wide seats that recline only 3” and when the person in front of you reclines you get your tray table in your lap -- was nearly impossible, though I did sprawl across Doug and drool on his shoulder a bit. So then I slept, and slept, and slept. Sleeping in Vegas is the most expensive sleeping I’ve ever done, but it that’s what it took to go down for a nap and I needed it that badly, then it was worth it.

Weekend before this last one, I went to WisCon. I was probably at the con for all of ten hours all weekend. The rest of the time, I was in the hotel room either crashed out or working my butt off (except my butt never gets any smaller -- go figure). But I did have a good time whenever I was awake and not working. Most of the artwork I voted for won in the categories I thought it should win. Met any number of cool people and had cool conversations. Was on three panels, including two on class, which tends to bring out the ranting and raving in people, but they all went reasonably well. Someone whose opinion I value complimented me on how I did on panels, so that was a warm fuzzy.Another warm fuzzy: Someone came up and introduced herself and said she’d found my article online, “Finessing the Infodump,” and it had saved her writers’ group. Cool! Found the Land’s End outlet store on State Street and picked up the most comfortable jeans ever for $10, plus some other stuff. Plus a totebag to carry it all in, which Bootsie loves to use to sharpen her claws (it’s canvas, and I guess that’s good).

A while ago, I wrote about setting aside one day a week for writing fiction. Hmm. How about setting aside one day a week for sleep? I keep thinking I’ll hit a dry spot (and begin worrying about money, but what can you do) and then get my schedule organized with some set-aside times for exercise and writing and such. But I’ll probably just keep thinking that. Now working on a travel guide for people who like antiques, a college guide, a book about Internet bullying, a book about writing teachers’ performance evaluations, a math book for parents so they can help their kids (great idea!), and database records. That seems like a lot, but I’m actually mostly done with most of them and just waiting for other people to do their bit before wrapping things up. I’m entering the week in pretty good shape! Go me! (And I love the variety and the cool books. I’m really very happy with my lot in life—it’s just getting a little out of hand, and I need to get the “success” part figured out.)

Cubby Bear developed some big lumps in his mouth that needed to be taken out. He needed his teeth cleaned badly anyway, so we just had everything done at once. They turned out to be benign, caused by the papilloma virus. Cubby recovered great from the surgery and is more beautiful than ever. AJ keeps injuring her hip with her whirling-dervish-I-need-to-kill-it routine at the front window. She’s either placid and sweet or 110 percent killing machine, and her anger management issue is going to cause her problems as she gets older if she doesn’t tone it down. Hard to believe she’s 7(?) now—6 or 7. New betta’s still alive. New loach is still alive. Yay!

I’m going to pass on putting in a veggie garden this year, because I probably won’t have time to keep it weeded and watered or cook what comes out of it. I did put in a couple of flats of annuals in the boulevard garden, and I added a whole bunch of day lilies and a handful of other perennials and shrubs to the front yard to fill in a few spots. Fingers crossed that everything lives.

The stomach problem turned out just to be a bad batch of eggs, so I can keep eating them. Yay!And I just looked at my Things to Do List and realized . . . I’m waiting for things from other people on every single one of my projects. THERE IS NO WORK I CAN CURRENTLY DO!!! The sun has just come up (Bootsie is stalking the morning birds in one window after another), and I am going to clear some grass out of my flowerbeds. Go me!